North Dakota Unemployment Calculator (2026)
In 2026, North Dakota pays unemployment benefits between $43 and $815 per week — one of the highest maximums in the region. Benefits last 12 to 26 weeks. The formula is unusual: it counts your two best quarters in full plus half of your third-best quarter.
How North Dakota calculates it
North Dakota adds up your wages from your two highest-earning quarters, then adds half of your third-highest quarter, and divides the total by 65. For example, if your two best quarters totaled $19,000 and your third-best was $6,500, the math is ($19,000 + $3,250) / 65 = about $342 a week. Because the third quarter counts at half weight, steady earners do a bit better than people with one big quarter.
The weekly benefit runs from a $43 minimum to an $815 maximum — a high ceiling that helps higher earners more than most states' formulas do.
How long you can collect depends on how your total base period wages compare to your high-quarter wages: the state uses a weighted schedule to set your duration, between 12 and 26 weeks. Longer, steadier work history generally means more weeks.
Do you qualify in North Dakota?
To qualify money-wise, your total base period wages must be at least 1.5 times your highest-quarter wages, and you need wages in at least two quarters.
The standard non-wage rules also apply: you're unemployed through no fault of your own, and you're able to work, available for work, and actively looking for work each week you claim.
Maximum total benefit: Weighted schedule of BPW-to-HQW ratio x WBA.